About this blog

So what is an “IT Plumber” anyway?

This is a blog about IT infrastructure and how to manage it so that it fulfills what purpose it was built for. Exactly what constitutes “infrastructure” and what is “application” can depend on what point of view is used, but generally infrastructure includes

• PCs
• handhelds
• servers
• operating systems
• middle ware (DBMS, email system, transaction managers, etc.)
• network hardware (routers, hubs, etc.)
• network links (LAN, WAN, etc.)
• the internet
• the tools used to manage all the components
• the processes (like ITIL) that make everything run smoothly.

Of course what viewpoint I take and what I include in “infrastructure” will depend somewhat on what I want to write! Don’t worry, I’ll try and stay relavant, and won’t post my favorite chili recipes.

But I still haven’ explained why I use the label “plumber” have I? In my view IT infrastructure is a lot like plumbing. Everyone depends on it and just expects it to just work, and usually doesn’t even notice it until it doesn’t work. But when it doesn’t work things can “back up” and work grinds to a halt. And then who do they call to fix it – a plumber! Hence the name – “IT Plumber”. Also, when I took engineering at university the engineers called themselves “plumbers” so the label stuck.